Nicholas Geiger Bitsko (born June 16, 2002) is an American professional baseball player who is a free agent. He was selected 24th overall by the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

in the

2020 Major League Baseball draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

Amateur career

Bitsko attended

Central Bucks High School East Central Bucks High School East is a public high school serving students in tenth through twelfth grades, one of three high schools in the Central Bucks School District. The school is located in Buckingham, Pennsylvania in Bucks County, adjacent ...

Buckingham, Pennsylvania Buckingham is an unincorporated community in Buckingham Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. Buckingham is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 202, Pennsylvania Route 263, and Pennsylvania Route 413 Pennsylvania Rout ...

. He committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

in November 2016. Bitsko gained notoriety due to the circumstances of his draft stock rising; due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, few

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

scouts had seen him pitch, and much of the data collected was collected virtually. He was a top-rated prospect for the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was s ...

according to ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'', but graduated from high school early and

reclassified ''Reclassified'' is the reissue of Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's debut studio album, '' The New Classic'' (2014). It was released internationally on 21 November 2014 by Virgin EMI Records, and in the United States on 24 November 2014 by Gran ...

to the class of 2020. In 2020, he was named Pennsylvania's Gatorade Player of the Year.

Professional career

Bitsko was selected 24th overall by the

in the

. He signed with the Rays for a $3 million bonus. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On December 1, 2020, Bitsko underwent right shoulder surgery to repair a labrum issue. He did not make an appearance in 2021 while recovering. Bitsko spent his first professional season in 2022 with the rookie–level

Florida Complex League Rays The Florida Complex League Rays are a minor league baseball team in Port Charlotte, Florida, competing as a Rookie-level team in the Florida Complex League as an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional ba ...

and Single–A

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Char ...

. In 14 games (12 starts) split between the affiliates, he compiled a 1–2 record and 6.23 ERA with 20 strikeouts over 26 innings pitched. Bitsko missed the entirety of the 2023 season as a result of

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. Bitsko returned to action in 2024 with the FCL Rays, struggling to a 38.57 ERA with 3 strikeouts in innings pitched over 4 games. He later suffered an injury and was placed on the season–ending injured list in July. Bitsko made six appearances (three starts) for the FCL Rays in 2025, struggling to a 12.60 ERA with four strikeouts over five innings pitched. He was released by the Rays organization on July 25, 2025.

References

External links

Living people 2002 births Baseball players from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Charleston RiverDogs players Florida Complex League Rays players Virginia Cavaliers baseball players 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-stub